So, I have finally made the leap and decided to fulfil a long-standing dream of setting up a boutique tax practice. They say never waste a crisis, and if 2020 wasn’t a crisis I don’t know what was! So, I’m leveraging the crisis, taking the plunge and here we go..
For me, the decision and rationale behind establishing Hughes Tax & Advisory is twofold.
Firstly, the tax industry, both domestically and internationally is constantly evolving. Increasingly, international tax requires expertise across continents, and I fear that SME advisors (myself included) will struggle to keep up to date and maintain the necessary skills and experiences to provide the best support. I won’t lie; BEPS, ATAD and DAC7 are just some of the tax acronyms in my google search history this week.
On the other hand, I can see that a chasm has opened in recent years between a buoyant domestic economy in Ireland and our austerity budget driven tax infrastructure. I am seeing an over reliance on out of the box tax solutions and headline reliefs. I saw the opportunity to establish a boutique firm, with a fresh focus on economic rather than tax factors; i.e. employment, progressive industries, serial entrepreneurs, etc. Our approach is to become subject matter experts on our clients and their industries, so we can provide commercially aware tax advice; getting the best results possible for our clients.
The second driver for this move is service. Whilst I enjoy the challenge of working in tax, the reward has always been the people. I have always enjoyed developing relationships and working closely with clients and fellow professionals. I couldn’t help but notice that Covid, including working from home and the resulting Team’s culture has created an extra layer of separation between advisors and clients. Clients must be able to pick up the phone to us on a whim, rather than schedule a Team’s call a week from Thursday. Our service ethos is simple; be proactive, be responsive and give exceptional service.
Thankfully, I am not alone. I am being joined in this venture by Jackie Kiely. Jackie is a private client specialist who I have worked with on many occasions over the years. Not only do we have an excellent working relationship, but we know each other well. Jackie set up her own practice in 2005; CTS Tax & Advisory will be part of our fully merged firm. We plan to grow our client base, our team and our service offering in the coming years. I will continue to be based in my adopted city of Cork, whilst Jackie is based in Kildare and will give us a strong presence and ability to service clients in the greater Dublin region.
We would like to thank you all for your continued support in recent years and we look forward to working with you for many more years to come.
